Unexplored
by Cherrie2709
Summary: A story that takes up the plot of the famous game Mass Effect 2, but editing it with the arrival of a new character: the young Magenta Cameron, who finds herself facing a whole new century in the role of a soldier. Our protagonist will have to face, in addition to the threat of the Collectors, the scars of the past, discovering that they are not so far from her present.
1. The awakening

Emptiness. Huge emptiness. Only billions of stars and planets. When I opened my eyes, that was all I could see in front of me. I had been locked in a cryogenic capsule for years and years. And now, what once I could only imagine was right in front of me. I took a better look: exactly in the centre of that system, there was the sun. But it was not _our_ sun, it was another one. It was definitely too small to be ours.

-It is Sharabarik's sun- said someone behind me.

I didn't turn. I could see him reflected in the window glass. He was not human. His face resembled a cat, but his skin was scaly like a reptile. He was not dressed normally, he was wearing some kind of suit…a suit of armor. Probably he noticed the fear I was feeling in seeing something completely unknown to me.

-Don't worry. I don't bite- he laughed –My name is Garrus, I am one of Commander Shepard's team member-

-Commander Shepard?- I asked –Is she the woman who decided to unfreeze me?-

-Exactly. We discovered that you were a good soldier in the time you lived, so we would like to recruit you-

-Recruit me?- I turned to looked at his face. Probably I gasped, but he didn't notice –I have been locked up in this thing- I pointed at the capsule –for about…how many years? One hundred? And now you want to recruit me for a battle?-

-Forgive me. I've been too blunt.-

In the twenty-first century, we all thought that aliens were some sort of human beings with big heads and big black eyes, ready to take us away for their experiments. But it seemed the only alien thing about him were his looks. Actually, he was even nicer than a human.

-Thank you- I looked again at the space outside the window –I would like to meet her. Shepard, I mean-

When she entered the room she didn't seem very happy. She was whispering something to the alien, but I could understand perfectly, since her whisper sounded more like a scream.

-I asked you to persuade her, not to upset her so that she could turn against us!-

Garrus, on the contrary, couldn't be heard, but it was clear that, even though she was his commander, they were on the same social level. After their discussion, the woman approached me. I realized that she bore a remarkable resemblance to me, but I thought it was just a coincidence. She was taller maybe, but just as slender as me and she wore her hair short too. They were of a bright red that recalled my highlights. But one thing stood out among the differences. Her eyes. They were a beautiful shade of light blue, a colour that had never been in my family.

-Welcome on the Normandy, Miss Cameron. I'm afraid the approach with my ship and my crew has been rather unpleasant and rude. Asking you to become part of my team so abruptly was definitely wrong. You come from the twenty-first century, so we have to explain a lot of things to you-

-It isn't just that, I'm nineteen years old! Do you really think that a girl my age can become part of a military team?-

-I am firmly convinced, especially since that girl is you. When Vorcha attacked Earth, you were one of the few women to take part in the conflict, one of the few who didn't stay at home, but choose to fight instead-

-I had nothing to lose…- I said with a hint of sadness in my voice –Go on-

-I'll be happy to give Garrus and the rest of my team the task of educating you on this century: they will tell you about the alien species, the various galaxies and how human kind works now- once she said that, she left without even saying goodbye.

-Is she always so nice?- I asked, hoping that humour still existed.

-No, but you are a personal matter to her-

I stared at him for a few minutes, trying to figure out what he was talking about just looking at him, but then I gave up.

-Magenta Cameron- I said, shaking hands with him –but I suppose you already know that-

-I'm Garrus Vakarian, and I am the team sniper-

-Snipers still exist? Good. Only, now they are aliens-

-I bet you think all aliens are the same as me-

-Is it not so?-

-No. I am part of a species called Turian. We were born to fight. Of course we fight only those who are hostile to us-

-Are you telling me that there are more species of aliens?-

-Exactly. You expected the black-and-empty-eyed aliens, huh?-

Instead I found myself in front of big "cats" with blue eyes. I smiled.

-Do I look funny?-

-Oh no. Uh…never mind. Go ahead-

-I think it's good for you to get to know every species closely, that's why I'm taking you to the others-

-An alien team? Interesting. If only Luke could see this-

In the ship observatory, sitting cross-legged, there was a strange blue woman. Instead of hair she had something like scaly tentacles combed back. Silently she rose from the ground and turned to me.

-You must be the girl-

So that's how they called me, "the girl"? It seemed that aliens were absolutely normal there. The strange one was the girl who had just been defrosted.

-Nice to meet you, my name is Magenta Cameron-

-My pleasure. My name is Samara and I'm part of the species Asari. Our species consists of only women, able to reproduce with each other, as with other species. If anyone mates with an Asari, however, only an Asari can be born-

-Only women? It shouldn't be so bad-

-Women- said Garrus –but also very skilled warriors. In fact, Samara is a Justicar, an Asari who sworn to the code of her species and vowed to enforce it at any cost, even if requires her to become a criminal-

Each new species amazed me, but Garrus explained to me that on the ship there wasn't a specimen for every single alien species: only the most qualified entered Commanderbg8hvf Shepard's crew.

-Of course the team is not completely alien. Aside from Shepard, in fact, there are Jacob Taylor, Miranda Lawson and Kasumi Goto. There would be also Jack, but I don't know if that would be what you consider human-

-What…do you mean?-

-You should know that in this era humans, as well as aliens like us, are able to develop biotic powers. Biotic powers are powers that can be used to defend and attack. To make you understand better, I will take you to Jack's quarters-

Jack. I immediately imagined a very sexy and strong man who can ignite objects with his mind. My face certainly expressed amazement, though I could not see myself. In fact, Jack not only wasn't a muscular man…Jack wasn't a man at all. She was a woman, with shaved hair and a lot of tattoos all over her body, so that, even if she was wearing only a brassiere, she looked like she was fully clothed.

-She must be the newcomer- she said when she saw me. Great, I thought, first I was "the girl", then even "the newcomer".

However, I decided to behave politely and held out my hand to her.

-Nice to meet you. Magenta Cameron-

She didn't return my handshake; instead, she began to inspect me from top to bottom. Could it be that biotic powers also consisted in X-rays?

Immediately after that, she said something utterly senseless.

-The resemblance is striking…-

Garrus used a serious tone when he spoke again, as if he wanted to tell her to be quiet.

-We are here so that Magenta can understand the functioning of biotic powers- he hesitated a moment before going on –You're the best example-

-Of course- she said, quite flattered –but then, don't get angry with me if something breaks down in the ship-

Apparently these biotic powers were quite powerful. I could not imagine anything more. Jack was so thin that I replaced the image of the muscular big man who starts a fire, with the one of a little lean woman that cannot even light a match. The tattooed woman then turned to me.

-What do you wanna see?-

I opened my mouth, but couldn't say anything. The beautiful blue-eyed-Turian had preceded me.

-Show her a shield-

-A shield? Oh, come on! I thought you would have asked for something more complex than that!-

-If you want, we can always ask Samara-

Probably Jack felt offended, 'cause in a moment she stopped objecting.

-Okay- she snorted –I'll do it-

I was a bit scared and a lot interested. The woman held out her arms in front of herself and kept her hands with outstretched palms. From them a blue discharge sprang, and it created a huge bubble around her. The bubble expanded so much that it could contain me and Garrus as well. Maybe because of the appearance similar to an electric discharge, maybe because of the sense of unknown that caused in me, I thought that I'd be electrocuted by touching the bubble. Instead, nothing happened. We stood there staring at that wonderful show. Garrus explained to me that the biotic shields worked only as a defence against weapons and against synthetic entities. He also told me that those who created the shield resent it with every stroke, and therefore it could not be used indefinitely, but needed to recharge.

When we came out of the hold, the place where Jack quartered, Garrus asked me perhaps the most obvious question.

-You expected Jack to be a man, didn't you?-

-The tattoos impressed me more than anything - I lied.

-It seems that she has one for each person she killed-

-Oh…- I stared at him quite upset. Apparently, in 2185 killing people was somehow considered standard practice.

-Relax. She won't kill you. It doesn't seem so, but she's a nice person. She hates Cerberus, that's why she acts grumpy-

-Um…Cerberus?-

- Oh, right, you have no idea of what I'm speaking of. Cerberus is the association for which we work. Actually, even Shepard dislikes them, but we are on their side because they fight what we fight-

-And what do we fight, exactly?-


	2. Presentations

_**Well, hello :) I'm really, really, really, really sorry for my slowness, but so many events had filled my summer. However, now I'm here with the second chapter of the story and a little presentation to it. In the first chapter I didn't tell you anything :/ This is my first fanfiction and, in fact, it isn't really original: I've created new characters and put them in Mass Effect 2 plot. There are new situations but also situations that you can easily know from Mass Effect 2. I hope that you would read mi FF anyway :)**_

_**At the bottom of the page you can find explanation when I write something not really clear and, in my profile you can find a link to Unexplored official page on facebook, in which I'll write to keep you informed. Enjoy this new chapter ^^**_

He stared at me for a while, took a breath and then spoke to me in a very serious and worried tone.

- You must know that Vorcha will be the last of your problems. Compared to what lies ahead, they are pyjack.

- Um...what?

- Oh, sorry. Pyjak are like small...monkeys.

- That's better...go on.

- They are the Collectors. Collectors are insect-like aliens who work for the Reapers, big synthetic machines able to destroy a whole planet. Trust me, these are not people to trifle with, Magenta. We all want you to be perfectly prepared to face them and especially to deal with what they are planning.

- What are they planning?- I asked with a huge knot in my stomach.

- We don't know…we only know that, to plan it, they are exterminating colonies...human colonies.

I gasped. So that was the twenty-second century? A century of wars between species, only in order to gain more power?

Garrus saw my great desperation, perhaps because I had started to sweat.

- Hey...calm down- he took me gently by the shoulders and shook me a little -You don't have to worry. If you were expecting a century of prosperity, well, this surely is one. But every century has its wars unfortunately. You are here to make sure that this war lasts as little as possible.

I looked at his face. Only then I realized that his right cheek was covered with a huge cybernetic patch, and that the best part of it was full of scars, which ran up to his mouth.

- Garrus...- I reached out to touch him. I was a bit scared. I thought that maybe in Turian traditions to stare at scars could be an offence. But he was not offended at all. He was just surprised, as if no one had ever worried about his injury.

- What happened to you?

- Oh...uh...- he gently removed my hand from his face and let go of my shoulders -…nothing really bothering, actually. When Shepard came to recruit me, a missile fired into my face.

- _Nothing really bothering?_ You could have died!

- But now I'm here, right? Alive and well. As you are- he pointed to my left arm.

Until that moment, I hadn't taken a look at myself. I had observed around me without asking myself if I was ok. I had a huge scar on my shoulder. It started out from an enormous single point, a shot probably, and branched off all around.

- Most likely, with the twenty-first century treatments you would be dead. We saved you. Your arm won't be affected, but scars will be highly visible. In the space you'll certainly find someone who likes women with scars.

We both burst out laughing. The first real laugh after a hundred or more years in a cryogenic capsule.

- I noticed- I said when we were serious again -that Shepard has scars on her face.

- Well, you know, after someone dies it is normal to show some signs of it.

- OMG, you mean that she's a zombie?

Garrus laughed a little -No, absolutely not. She died two years ago, and people from Cerberus rebuilt her from top to bottom. She has so many scars because of the intervention.

- Oh...God. Stuff you would not believe- I remained a few seconds staring at the floor, imagining Shepard, all dried up and lifeless, swollen from people from Cerberus.

- Well- he interrupted my thoughts -Can we continue the tour?

He took me to see the remaining members of the team. Kasumi Goto, who was a thief, was quite mysterious. Because of the hood, the only visible part of his face was his mouth.

Jacob Taylor was an enormous black-skinned man. He seemed nice and friendly, but also determined: he was the weapon officer on the ship, and a soldier of Cerberus.

The funniest alien I saw was Mordin Solus, the scientist of the ship. He was a Salarian, perhaps the kind of alien more similar to what we imagined in the twenty-first century: black and empty eyes and an stretched head, which, however, ended in a bifurcation. His color was not dull grey, but orange-brownish. He looked like a humanoid chameleon. The most funny aspect of Salarians was the way they acted. Indeed, Mordin moved and spoke very fast, as if he was always nervous.

- We think fast, so we move and talk fast- he explained to me.

Salarians were also considered the most intelligent creatures of all.

Among the various aliens there was also a frightening one. His name was Grunt and was a Krogan. The Krogans were creatures similar to giant toads on two legs. Their story was, moreover, quite sad: once they were incapable of doing anything useful, then they were taught the art of war. They did battle with each other for food and, once the various battles were over, they began to breed with an impressive speed. This naturally led them to seek for expansion, so Turians asked the Salarians create a biological weapon called "genophage", which made possible only one successful pregnancy over thousand. Perhaps it was for this reason that Grunt did not look as if he was on friendly terms with Garrus. I decided not to take a risk and so I hid myself as much as possible behind Garrus. Our introduction was nothing but a continuous exchange of bad looks between the two of them. I also discovered that Grunt was synthetic: he had been created by Okeer, a powerful Krogan, who had given him the DNA of the most powerful krogan warriors so that he could be the best.

Another alien member of the crew was Thane Krios, a kind of humanoid amphibious, with huge empty eyes, but with an overall better appearance than Mordin. Seeing him, you could tell he was good-hearted, but he was also kind of disturbing. His voice vibrated, as if two people were speaking at the same time; his memory, like every Drell's one, was eidetic: he could remember every detail of his memories and, since he was a murderer, he suffered a lot for this. The killing of each victim was well printed in his memory. However, I was very sorry to know that he was ill: he was affected by the Kepral's syndrome, a disease affecting the Drell subjected to humid environments and that brought them slowly to death by suffocation.

Then I was introduced to the last human of the team, Miranda Lawson. I don't know exactly why, but she was a lot unpleasant to me. She was sort of too beautiful and, for some obscure and mysterious reason, it looked like she hated me.

- He was not kidding when he said that you're beautiful - she said with a grin.

- Who told you that?

- ME! I told her that – Garrus said quickly.

I was convinced that they were hiding something to me, but I also realized that I should not have asked. That was not the right time.

- As you know - she continued - I am Miranda Lawson, second in command of Shepard and first assistant of the Illusive man, to whom Cerberus belongs. I've been genetically modified by my father to be perfect.

- It does not seem so… - I said sharply.

We left early from there because I felt the need to punch her and probably Garrus had noticed.

The last component of the team was Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. The name made me think of a beautiful alien that no one could resist to. When I saw her I was shocked. Not because she was ugly, but because I could not see how she was. She was wearing a tight suit with respirator and not one inch of her body was visible. The only thing I noticed was that, as Garrus and Mordin, she had only three fingers on each hand and her feet were made of a palm with two huge fingers, like a hoof. She didn't talk so much, apparently she preferred to work with the ship's engines. I found out that she had previously worked with Shepard and that the Quarians, the race to which she belonged, did not live on a planet, but on the Migrant Fleet, a fleet only made of Quarian ships, about fifty thousand.

I was shocked when I spoke again to Garrus.

- Does she always go around that way? With respirator and everything?

- Of course. For Quarians each type of air which is not the one of their planet could be harmful. She would die without a suit.

- And you ... you've never seen her without?

- No one sees the real look of a Quarian since the Geth have forced them to live as wanderers.

It was a horrible behaviour. No one should be forced to live like that.

- Who are the Geth?

- You mean WHAT they are. Synthetic entities equipped with an AI, artificial intelligence. The Quarians created them so that they could work at low cost, but when they realized that more Geth together could think independently, it was too late. They started a riot and Quarians were forced to create the Migrant Fleet.

- It's a very sad story.

- It is. You know, it's said that every Quarian, under suit and respirator is beautiful. Of an unimaginable beauty1. I wonder if we could ever see them.

I was imaging Tali. I imagined her with an almost human appearance, but of an indescribable beauty. While I was lost in my thoughts, a voice spoke, but it couldn't have been Garrus. It was a female voice. But we were alone in the hallway. Then I noticed an holographic projection, a kind of giant eye that opened horizontally instead of vertically and that could speak.

- Good morning, Miss Cameron. Commander Shepard would like to see you on the main deck.

- Um ... okay. But...what are you?

- It is EDI - Garrus said with a smile, as if I were a very ignorant girl – the artificial intelligence of the ship.

- I provide tactical support during the military operations of the team and I can optimize the ship weapons, speeding offence and defence against the enemy.

- Mh...Garrus, didn't you just say that the Geth were AI?

- Yes, but EDI has limitations that do not allow it to rebel. For example, it can't take complete possession of the ship without our permission. Well, Shepard's permission.

- You know...in my century we have made several films in which people died because of a ship or a house controlled by an artificial intelligence similar to...EDI...

Garrus laughed, as if I had just told the joke of the year.

- Don't worry. EDI is far too good.

- All right ... I'll try and trust you. Now I'm going to see Shepard.

- See you later, Magenta – he said waving at me.

**Cherrie's notes ~**

1. I don't know if Quarians are really considered beautiful in the game, but I like to think they are :)


End file.
